Utilizing conventional construction techniques, many building veneer wall systems are construced including an inner backup wall and an outer veneer wall having a cavity therebetween. The backup wall may be of block construction using, for example, cinder blocks. The veneer wall may be of brick construction. It has long been known to utilize wire joint reinforcements within mortar joints of block walls in order to improve strength characteristics of the wall and to minimize cracking. An additional problem relative to veneer wall systems is the necessity of anchoring the two walls so that structural failure of one wall does not occur independently of the other. Accordingly, tieing elements embedded in the brick wall mortar joints are coupled to the reinforcement to cause both walls to deflect simultaneously and similarly under bending loads so that the resisting movement of the two walls develops a maximum deflection.
When a veneer all anchor system is constructed, it is often desirable to construct the backup wall first, followed by the veneer wall. Such a construction technique may result in the horizontal joints of the respective walls being non-aligned vertically. This result necessitates that the coupling between the wire joint reinforcement in the backup wall and the tieing elements in the veneer wall allow for adjustable vertical spacing therebetween.
One example of a conventional veneer wall anchor system utilizes a truss reinforcement with outwardly extending wire loops welded thereto embeddable in the backup wall horizonal mortal joints. Pintle ties embeddabel in the veneer wall mortar joints are vertically adjustably received in the loops for connecting the veneer wall to the backup wall. A problem with such system is that the weld connecting points between the truss and loops are large in cross section so that the truss arrangement takes up significant vertical space allowing less adjustment to mortar joint thickness.
Veneer wall anchor systems often use rigid wall insulation disposed between the backup wall and the veneer, wall. The insulation may be, for example, secured to the backup wall by a suitable adhesive to secure it in position. Applying such an adhesive can be time consuming and therefore costly. Also, problem results in the holes must be made in the insulation to permit the outwardly extended loops to pass therethrough for coupling with the pintle ties.
The present invention is intended to overcome these and other problems associated with veneer wall anchor systems.